1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the on-demand production of laser ablation transfer ("LAT") imaging films, and, more especially, to the on-demand (or on-line) economical production of LAT imaging films presenting options of flexibility hitherto unknown in laser ablation transfer imaging science ("LATIS").
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,938 to Diane M. Foley et al, assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference and relied upon, recounts the LATIS prior art and describes a unique method/system for simultaneously creating and transferring a contrasting pattern of intelligence on and from an ablation-transfer imaging medium to a receptor element in contiguous registration therewith that is not dependent upon contrast imaging materials that must absorb the imaging radiation, typically laser radiation, and is well adopted for such applications as, e.g., color proofing and printing, computer-to-plate, the security coding of various documents and the production of machine-readable or medical items, as well as for the production of masks for the graphic arts and printed circuit industries; the ablation-transfer imaging medium, per se, comprises a support substrate and an imaging radiation-, preferably a laser radiation-ablative topcoat essentially coextensive therewith, such ablative topcoat having a non-imaging ablation sensitizer and an imaging amount of a non-ablation sensitizing contrast imaging material ("CIM") contained therein.
Ellis et al copending application Ser. No. 07/707,039, filed May 29, 1991, also assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference and relied upon, describes improved ablation-transfer imaging media having greater sensitivity, requiring less sensitizer and threshold energy (thus permitting a greater range of mass to be transferred), and which additionally are kinetically more rapid and facilitate the ablative transfer to a receptor element of an imaging radiation-ablative topcoat containing virtually any type of contrast imaging material (whether sensitizing or non-sensitizing).
Such Ellis et al method/system for simultaneously creating and transferring a contrasting pattern of intelligence on and from a composite ablation-transfer imaging medium to a receptor element in contiguous registration therewith is improvedly radiation sensitive and versatile, is kinetically rapid and not dependent on a sensitized ablative topcoat, and is also very well adopted for such applications as, e.g., color proofing and printing, computer-to-plate, the security coding of various documents and the production of machine-readable or medical items, as well as for the production of masks for the graphic arts and printed circuit industries; the Ellis et al composite ablation-transfer imaging medium, per se, comprises a support substrate (i), at least one intermediate "dynamic release layer" (ii) essentially coextensive therewith and an imaging radiation-ablative carrier topcoat (iii) also essentially coextensive therewith, said imaging radiation-ablative carrier topcoat (iii) including an imaging amount of a contrast imaging material contained therein, whether or not itself including a laser absorber/sensitizer, and said at least one dynamic release layer (ii) absorbing such imaging radiation, typically laser radiation, at a rate sufficient to effect the imagewise ablation mass transfer of at least said carrier topcoat (iii).
By "dynamic release layer" is intended an intermediate layer that must interact with the imaging radiation to effect imagewise ablative transfer of at least the carrier topcoat onto a receptor element at an energy/fluence less than would be required in the absence thereof. The dynamic release layer ("DRL") is believed to release the carrier topcoat by effectively eliminating the adhesive forces that bond or consolidate the carrier topcoat with the support substrate. Preferably, under the same conditions additional propulsion is simultaneously provided by the interaction of the imaging radiation therewith, e.g., by ablation of the dynamic release layer itself, thus further facilitating the imagewise ablative transfer of the entire carrier topcoat to a receptor element. Representative DRLs per Ellis et al include metal, metal alloy, metal oxide and metal sulfide thin films, etc., and the organics.
Nonetheless, to date the LAT imaging films employed in, for example, the Foley et al and Ellis et al LATIS' described above have been limited to those "permanent" films available from inventory, namely, premanufactured or pre-coated, and, thus, which inventory is typically inadequate to supply the complete spectrum of LAT imaging films that may be required for a particular application, e.g., not all colors, not all color densities, not all film thicknesses, etc., are usually available from inventory.